Bridge Protest On Front Page Of Chronicle

Folks, it is lawsuit time! The Chroncle's article and photos, and all other articles on photos in the press, on the TV and on this website are excellent verification of police brutality. Sue the California Highway Patrol, the Golden Gate Bridge District, the Golden Gate Transit bus service and every other government agency and private profit business involved, all of which can pay for all of this. Make sure you get the highest settlement amount possible for every person who was attacked by the police, whether or not they were arrested.

My parents saw the tv or newspaper coverage in another state - in Seattle, and they said that they were told that the marchers had been running around in the lane of car traffic, and that they had been stopped at 2pm for being there at the end of the permit time. so misinformation is spreading.

I was there at the protest. None of the protesters were in traffic, just the police, none of the protesters were violent, just the police. I was up front when we showed the CHP our permate but they just took it away from us. They started arresting people and pepper-spraying them well before 2 pm. Non of the protesters that were sprayed or arrested were violent, especialy the 14 year old girl who was taken away from her family and cuffed and was put face first on the ground for over five minutes. If the police would of let the protest run it's coarse and would of let everyone march until 2 pm, none of this would of every happened and the police wouldn't of made a bad name for themselves that day.

i must agree for all the paranoia and generalizations we make about the mainstream media the sf chronicle and channel 2 coverage of the march was very anti-cop and very pro-our movement....

The reason the coverage was favorable was simple, and explained to me by the reporters:

1. A corporate media cameraperson was knocked over by one of the cops in their frenzy to kick some heads in. If you fuck with the media, they get you back.

2. The protest was *newsworthy* ... and this is the #1 thing explained to me by the media guy there who confirmed to me that the footage would be on the air that night. When I asked him what "newsworthy" meant, he said it meant that the protest was "militant" and "peaceful" and the cops over-reacted... I said wouldnt it be better if there were protests which were basically 50% put on by the cops, and people could march and the police march with them, no trouble and we all go home happy. He said that sounded nice, but it wouldnt really get on the news. In fact, he said this is a "police protest" in his terms and so they probably wont bother with much more than a "obligatory" camera crew.

Wake up folks and smell the protest.

What was the KTVU coverage like? It isn't on their website yet at this point, but I think they don't update on the weekend.

So how old is this girl again? 14? 11? 10!?! Let try to at least have consistent news, if not accurate news.

Well isn't that great! You folks managed to tie up traffic and for What? To fuck up peoples day. Even Killing people...yes.

My brother has been on the list for a Kidney Transplant for nearly 2 years....with only months left to locate a donor ....and you guessed it. On Saturday one became available. His surgeon from Stanford Medical Center couldn't get to the North Bay because of you ...
SELF CENTERED, SELF SERVING, SELF ABSORBED, SELFISH....individuals. Do you think beyond yourselves....DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CONSCIENQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS???? I didn't thing so.

Congratulations you made favorable press. BIG DEAL!!! ......It cost a life....go celebrate your stupidity.

Sorry Mary, but it wasn't the protesters who blocked lanes of traffic and prevented the surgeon from getting to the hospital. It was the cops who decided to harass a peaceful protest, knock over a cameraman, attack a young girl, and block traffic.

"Self-centered" individuals don't publicly declare their support of a people painted and seen as terrorists by many (most?) of their neighbours.

I'm sorry your brother suffered the effects of the police overreaction. However, if your claim is fake, and you're simply trolling, then perhaps you should read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". It's sick to try and make people feel guilty for harm they didn't cause.

Of course these are lies put on here by your typical right-wing troll.

As everyone knows, any emergency vehicle could have easily gotten through the bridge, it was hardly tied up, what lanes were closed were closed by an excess of military-style police, etc etc etc

Sorry Mary, try again. The fact is your sick government is killing people like this on a daily basis and you dont give a fuck. And thats why we dont give a fuck about you.

Mary is a lying ass. The kidney story sounds a bit like the baby killing lie that was used to get us into the Gulf war in 1991.

Peace demontrators are the killers. The warmongers are the peace makers. Not too believable.

[Note that this comment is from the same person as the post claiming their brother died]
i lost my mother on 9/11... i attended your rally and showed up with an american flag on honor of my mother. i am a 23 y/o female. about 10 min into the rally someone ripped the flag from my hand, twisted my wrist and i was called a "clueless bitch" by a few people...two other women and a man....at least a dozen people witnessed this at your rally and no one did a damn thing.....i was not there for israel or palestine or whatever...i thought i could walk with a flag of the us without being assaulted and god was i wrong...god save us all...I PRAY THAT ALL OF YOU WILL LEARN TO BE MORE ACCEPTING OF VIEWS DIFFERENT THAN YOUR OWN OR JUST OTHERS VIEW. PRAY FOR MY MOTHER AND OTHERS LOST ON 9/11.

Girl, you can see now you were not in the right place and were not among the right people. These people don't care about you, your pain, your mom, about USA. More than that - they don't care about themselves or they can't think one step ahead and predict what troubles they can bring with their position and this is sad.

you think police overreacted? What if some stupid idiot decided to blow up the bridge??? Why not? They did it so many times in Israel. They made thousands of kids' lives awful. Thousand of kids are disabled now, ... because police couldn't prevent this from happening. I prefer them to overreact than to underreact. I have no doubt you also don't want to lose a leg, or eye, or arm, don't you?
Police is not at fault. They are on duty and they were trying to do what they have to.

Better if you use your brain before suing somebody. Just try to think one step ahead (if you can). Read what arab extremist leaders are saying in the front of their people. If you are American - you are their next victim. If you are not radical muslim - you are their next victim. Do you like to be a victim? What are you fighting for? Poor Palestinians? Ask rich Arab nations why they don't help their fellows palestinian Arabs? They keep them in poverty to use against Israel. This conflict is endless because Arabs don't tell the world their real goal: to get rid of Israel. Is this right thing to do? We can like or not like Jews but we have to realize that they are struggling against terrorists. If Israel fails today, tomorrow our turn will come. Don't think America is far away. Terrorists are on our backyards... Sorry, but I don't want it. Do you ?

well in response to a few things firstly:
I was arrested at around the same time the girl was, we sat in the same van, she told us fellow arresstees that she was 11. Her brother, who was also arrested (under the complete bullshit rationale of "child endagerment") said she was 11. She is 11 years old, everyone.

Secondly, this is not Isreal for christ's sake, and even if it was, I would expect the government (Israeli army) to blow up a key bridge before a terrorist, should it be in the West Bank or Gaza Strip or so-forth. Now I am sorry that some intolerant assholes had to take that woman's amerikkkan flag from her and call her a "clueless bitch," but you know she would have gotten it taken by the CHP anyways once she got to the bridge. My aunt died in the World Trade Center, and I see this rallying around Old Glory, stand in solidarity with the nation, even for peace, to be chickenshit tripe. That's not going to change a god damned thing, we're still destined to live in the same corrupt country where I get peppersprayed in the face for falling on my ass because some CHP pushed me down -- we've got to fight for our rights, every day, all the time, everywhere. I know what loss and suffering feels like and that's why I'm all that committed to turning this around. Don't be foolish, everyone.

Unfortunately, we have already let the terrorists into the country. They're all here and the only thing we can do it protect what we have left. We don't need to wake up one morning with the Gaza Strip-like violent in our own backyards.

Mary, you are so busted on your hoax!

First of all, you said he's been on a list for 2 years, yet had a few months to go - meaning the operation was critical, but not going to kill him if he didn't get it at the exact hour he needed it.

Secondly, any problems with traffic in SF and the GG bridge would have absolutely NO EFFECT on a person traveling to the North Bay (assuming Marin country since that is the North Bay area). If you come up from Stanford, you have no reason to go through SF or across the GG bridge to get to marin country! That's what the Richmond bridge is for. LOL! AND, if the surgeon was coming from SF for some reason, he could EASILY have gone over the oakland bridge and to the Richmond bridge in a reasonable amount of time to "save" your imaginary brother.

if you have a problem with what people say/do/believe, at least back up your opposing views with factual events. Outright, obvious lies are easily picked apart. *chuckle*

About "Mary": a kidney transplant does not "save a life": dialysis will do that.

About "I LOST MY MOTHER ON 9/11": yeah, right.

About the press: interesting point, anonymouse, about the media getting the cops back for messing with them. One thing I noticed about the article was that protestors got "shoved" - other articles, like the AP one, said they were "pushed".

The videos you have online of the protest are pretty funny. The 11 year old girl must have been in the right company, because most of the rest of the protestors *acted* like 11 year olds -- shouting silly slogans, screaming like little kids, and generally failing to get their point across.

hey, are the ignorant posts here written by that loser who showed up to the bridge an hour early in his birkenstocks and with the TWO cameras and then started telling the media that he "just happened to be there and was disgusted" by the protesters?
this loser was yelling hella racist and anti-immigrant sentiments trying to start some trouble, but he got no love because people of peace don't fall for that sh!t.

to all the people coming in here to hate and spew nonsense and lies:

IFYOU AREN'T A FED, YOU'RE GETTING RIPPED OFF!

hey, are the ignorant posts here written by that loser who showed up to the bridge an hour early in his birkenstocks and with the TWO cameras and then started telling the media that he "just happened to be there and was disgusted" by the protesters?
this loser was yelling hella racist and anti-immigrant sentiments trying to start some trouble, but he got no love because people of peace don't fall for that sh!t.

to all the people coming in here to hate and spew nonsense and lies:

IFYOU AREN'T A FED, YOU'RE GETTING RIPPED OFF!

<h1>I was arrested on Saturday for walking too slowly. </h1>
<br> The unneccessary aggression of the California Highway Patrol will not be forgotten. I am stronger and more commited than ever before. THEY WILL NOT BREAK MY SPIRIT. <br> I was being held with the 11 year old girl who was assaulted, dragged across the pavement and arrested. <br>She was bruised, her clothing torn, her flexcuffs too tight and at only 11 years old she was confident in her right to protest. She said to me - I did nothing wrong. <br>Our activism will keep this country free - nothing else.

>Now I am sorry that some intolerant assholes had to take that woman's amerikkkan flag from her and call her a "clueless bitch,"


What on earth makes you think that actually happened?

The girl is 11. She was at the protest with her sister(14) her brother (20) her cousins(15 and 16) both girls.
They woke their brother up in the morning and told him that he had to take them to the protest.
Once the cops figured out they made the huge mistake of arresting a very tall 11 year old. They created false charges against the brother and trapped him by telling him if he came, they would release his sister. They arrested him separated him from his sister and sent her to Child Protective services.
She told me she was flipping off the cops when one of them jumped out of the crowd and attacked her.
They charged the brother with felony child endangerment.
We helped him dial his cellphone from the paddy wagon. His father was at the jail waiting to get him out when we were released.

The girl is 11. She was at the protest with her sister(14) her brother (20) her cousins(15 and 16) both girls.
They woke their brother up in the morning and told him that he had to take them to the protest.
Once the cops figured out they made the huge mistake of arresting a very tall 11 year old. They created false charges against the brother and trapped him by telling him if he came, they would release his sister. They arrested him separated him from his sister and sent her to Child Protective services.
She told me she was flipping off the cops when one of them jumped out of the crowd and attacked her.
They charged the brother with felony child endangerment.
We helped him dial his cellphone from the paddy wagon. His father was at the jail waiting to get him out when we were released.

Maybe next time she's flipping off cops, she should wear a sign that says:
I'M ELEVEN YEARS OLD SO YOU CAN'T ARREST ME.

Next time, maybe the cops will realize that giving a cop a finger is not something you should be arrested for. Remember that first amendment?

I'd agree that giving a cop the finger isn't something that one should be arrested for. My point, however, is that someone's age does not give them carte blanche to do whatever they want. If you want to complain about something then complain about the fact that she was (supposedly) arrested for flipping someone off, not the fact that she's only 11.

Seems like we're havin a time lap here,
Post-traumatic disorder can be less severe than getting back to the ku klu kluxoruccucoo tradition.
ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT AN 11YEARS OLD GIRL IS SELF_RESPONSIBLE AND MUST BE TREATED AS ONE? ARE WE GETTING CRAZY?
DID BIN LADEN REALY BEAT US,TURNING US INTO NON_SCIENTEFIC SPECIES LIKE HIM?

Does anyone here have a Vitaliss to English dictionary I can use?

Tried to look up this chron article at sfgate, no luck, what's the deal? only related article to be found stated "A CHP spokesperson said the protesters had a permit to gather on the bridge til 2pm. when protesters did not leave by that time, officers forced them to return to s.f.. The demonstraters were arrested when they refused to turn around. Officers closed one lane of traffic to escort them off the bridge."

Not only is this UNsympathetic, it is an outright lie. So much for the chron, but then again, not surprised!

As crazy as the police abuse seems to be; the armed National Guard presence, the trumped up charges against children, etc... I can't believe anyone would be surprised by this. I personally wouldn't go anywhere near that bridge unless I wanted to get beaten and arrested.

I remember, just a few days after 9/11, there was an Arab man speaking at a college protest, and this was shown on the national news. He started ranting about the U.S. government being the head terrorist, etc. Immediately, I said, "That guy is a dead man." It now occurs to me that he was probably hand-picked by "them" to paint dissenters as dangerous terrorist sympathizers. The basic point is still valid, though, that you can't go out in public and say, "I am an enemy of this Glorious Free Democracy," and not expect to be either lynched by the mob right then and there, or hunted down like a dog weeks later.

Now, this is months after 9/11, and I don't know that anyone organizing the event was a terrorist sympathizer, but when your average pig even hears the word "Palestine" he thinks "terrorist." I'm surprised they didn't chuck anybody off the bridge.

I mean, geeze, people, even if this were just a "Stop the War" protest, they'd have maced people. And as far as the "injustices" the police carried out--guess what--that's standard procedure. In reality, the cops will beat and arrest you if you even look at them funny, then the charges can go up as high as "attempted murder" to shut you up. If you're lucky, all charges will be dropped--but not dismissed--and you'll be free to go.

You should stage a follow-up protest, projecting videos of the police abuse on the side of a tall building, and telling people with a bullhorn what the media won't. And expect to be beaten/arrested again.

If you do this a few times, it might be funny enough that you can get on a talk show. I really think this could work. It's a publicity stunt, similar to what PETA does. I've always though PETA has some silly issues, but they do get crazy media attention. Just try not to demean yourselves as much as the PETA people do.